Kevin Porter Jr. scored 24 points to help the Milwaukee Bucks post a 111-94 victory over the Indiana Pacers in Indianapolis on Tuesday.
Ryan Rollins added 23 points for the Bucks, while Kyle Kuzma scored 15 and Bobby Portis finished with 14 points and nine rebounds for Milwaukee, which snapped a three-game losing streak. Myles Turner chipped in 10 points in the win against his former team.
T.J. McConnell led Indiana with 16 points, followed by Pascal Siakam’s 15 and Andrew Nembhard’s 14. Bennedict Mathurin had 13 points for the Pacers, who lost their sixth straight game.
Milwaukee pushed its 15-point halftime-lead to 75-54 on Kuzma’s dunk with 4:59 left in the third quarter. A pair of Kuzma free throws gave the Bucks an 86-61 edge before McConnell’s two straight baskets and Jarace Walker’s 3-pointer cut Indiana’s deficit to 18 entering the fourth.
From there, the Pacers pulled within 14 on Siakam’s reverse layup, forcing the Bucks’ timeout with 9:33 left. After Porter’s layup extended the Bucks’ lead to 99-81, Ethan Thompson’s 3-pointer capped a 9-0 Indiana run with 4:36 remaining in the fourth.
Porter and Rollins then hit jumpers to ice the game.
Neither team took a two-possession lead until Rollins’ back-to-back mid-range jumpers gave Milwaukee a 24-19 lead with 51.2 seconds remaining in the first quarter. The Bucks led 26-20 after the opening quarter.
Milwaukee opened the second quarter on a 7-0 spurt, including Porter’s basket to give the Bucks a 13-point lead with 9:49 remaining in the first half.
After Nembhard’s jumper pulled Indiana within 11, Rollins’ 3-pointer stamped the Bucks’ 9-2 run, giving Milwaukee a 57-39 lead. The Bucks led 59-44 at halftime and outrebounded Indiana 28-20 in the first half. The Pacers shot 8-for-17 (47%) on free throws before halftime.
